Chapter 219: War Ghost Trap (2)
Chu Hengkong stepped back, using the protruding rocks to conceal himself. Perhaps the disturbance left by the Demon King's death was too severe, and the Stone Demon hadn't noticed his subtle movements yet. The strange beast floated forward slowly. In two seconds, it would see him... in another 1.7 seconds...
Overwhelmed with anxiety, his perception of time dulled. Chu Hengkong slowly grasped the hilt of his sword. Having experienced death twice before, he already understood Chongming's condition. Swinging the sword was wishful thinking; he'd be lucky to pull it out without dying. He wasn't the genius to grasp Chongming's fighting style in 1.7 seconds, so he had to find another way.
Communication? High quality doesn't mean high intelligence. It's hard to imagine that thing having a brain. Besides, the beast didn't close its eyes. I'm afraid it would be petrified before it even opened its mouth.
An effortless ranged attack... Chongming didn't have any shurikens, and his flying knife wasn't likely to kill with a single strike. Besides, Chongming was so weak, the knife probably wouldn't even be able to pierce the opponent's skin.
Tricking the beast? Pulling out a section of the sword to scare it away with force? This was an idea. Beasts always knew how to seek advantage and avoid harm. Even if they had no strength left, they could still pretend to be ferocious enough to kill the demon king.
0.7 seconds. Half of the Eye-Eye Stone Demon's body was already close to the stone. Chu Hengkong made a decision. He gripped the hilt tightly and drew the knife, the blade making a soft clang. The Eye-Eye Stone Demon averted his gaze at the sound, but Chu Hengkong's hand froze.
He couldn't pull out the knife!
The brief half-minute of walking and thinking had drained all of Chongming's strength. The knife now felt like a thousand pounds, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift it even an inch. This miscalculation wasted the final seconds. The Void-Eye Stone Demon's gaze had penetrated the stone, and a dark green petrifying ray shot towards him.
The dark blade light leaped up like a snake, cutting through the stones, interrupting the rays, and cutting the strange beast in half!
The Eyeless Stone Demon split in half, like a chopped walnut. The corrupted heart of the Fallen One was precisely destroyed by the blade, black blood wriggling hideously like maggots, and various deformed organs let out a baby-like cry.
Chu Hengkong pressed the hilt of his sword, a cold sweat breaking out. He hadn't managed to pull out the sword until the last moment, so he let the blade in the sheath strike on its own.
Zanxin Sword Art, Reverse Blade Drawing, these were practical techniques Qingye had learned while walking on the night. He had seen Qingye use it several times, so he secretly learned it with the mentality of learning by analogy, but he didn't expect it to come in handy at this time.
...Perhaps this move was designed for such extreme situations?
If you think about it, the logic behind the reverse blade is quite strange. If it's simply for disrupting an attack, using shuriken or other Zanshin techniques would be more convenient. This technique is quick to activate and requires little effort, making it quite useful for saving lives in desperate situations like this.
Back then, those heartless people wouldn't have been beaten so often that they couldn't even pull out their swords...
Chu Hengkong subconsciously felt that this was absurd, but also felt that given the intensity of the battlefield at the time, such a guess was extremely likely. He carefully stepped over the corpse of the strange beast, fearing that a collision with some piece of flesh would cause him to die again accidentally. After getting away from the strange beast, Chu Hengkong breathed a sigh of relief. He maintained his breathing rhythm and continued forward...
He suddenly fell to his knees.
The pain he'd grown accustomed to was compounded by a new sensation: a weakness that nearly ripped his bones apart. The depletion he'd experienced when he'd failed to draw his sword intensified, bringing back memories of his starvation in Yingshi Town. He couldn't hold the sword anymore, his fingers loosening in weakness. His face pressed against the stinking blood in the earth, his heartbeat pounding like an earthquake.
The heart that was as strong as a bomb was still beating, but he himself was about to die of weakness!
Chu Hengkong desperately stimulated his heart, trying to draw out power, but now he didn't even have the strength to control his muscles. He fainted on the ground, his eyes dull.
He is dead.
——
This time, his lapse of consciousness lasted an exceptionally long time. It felt like a century before Chu Hengkong heard the rustling sound again. He opened his eyes and stared at the bandaged hilt.
Chu Hengkong couldn't even cry out in pain anymore, for he had come to a terrible realization. Resurrection within the mind of this murderous blade wasn't without cost. The first resurrection had taken only a moment, the second a minute and a half, and this time, he felt like more than fifteen minutes had passed.
How much time had passed in reality? Was it faster than here... or slower? Even if only ten minutes had passed in reality, Qingxia had already been fighting Wen Yao. How much time did he have left to waste?
Can't fail again!
Chu Hengkong forced himself to calm down. He breathed in a rhythmic rhythm, bandaged his wounds, sheathed his sword, and marched forward. Every movement had to be perfect; he couldn't afford even a single wasted effort. He advanced as quickly as possible, stepping directly over the filthy pool of blood, using his inner energy to sense the surrounding living things. The strength in his heart was unavailable, and he desperately needed food. Even the most poisonous grass could serve as fuel for his body.
But the cave was empty, and he couldn't find the rat he'd heard about. The breath of the strange beast, trapped in despair, reached him again. Chu Hengkong quickened his pace, and before the Eye-Shy Stone Demon could open its eyes, the dark blade gleamed, slashing down with a single blow. The strange beast fell to the ground, its rotten heart shattered, and maggot-like blood flowed through its hideous organs.
Think about what Chongming would do. How did that wounded warrior survive? What did he say at the time?
——In order to survive, even the power of outsiders must be used!
Of course. The first lesson for all newcomers. A gift pack for newcomers in the Desperate Wilderness. Chu Hengkong loosened his grip on the knife and dropped to his knees to conserve his strength. With trembling hands, he grasped the corrupted heart.
He put the heart of the fallen into his mouth.
Chewing and swallowing, not too quickly, he devoured the Heretic's flesh and blood with the gentleness he would bestow upon a lover. The black blood, like a mass of maggot-infested snot, stirred restlessly in his throat. Chu Hengkong locked his muscles, forcing himself to swallow. An incredible response came from within him, as if his body were delighted by the Heretic's arrival.
The pain intensified. Black Moon's flesh melted within him, attempting to break free, only to be sucked into his bones by a sinister gravity. He tore at the alien beast's organs. He bit into its fetid eyeballs. He ate. He ate. He ate everything he could...!
“Hu…Hu…”
Chu Hengkong gasped horribly. His face was covered in blood, and his mouth still stagnated with flowing black blood, like a ferocious beast fresh from a prey. Yet, he felt much better. His fragile bones were now strong and sturdy. The Sinful Bones of the Heartless had absorbed the heterodox qualities of his flesh and blood, using them as fuel to fuel his body.
Chu Hengkong let the blood flow down his face. He didn't have the energy to waste on such a meaningless task as cleaning. He stood up, holding the knife, ready to move forward. At this moment, the knife vibrated slightly, as if it was longing for something.
He recalled how, when he grasped the knife in reality, a flash of blood seemed to have appeared on the blade. He looked at the remaining half of the alien beast's body and came up with a bold guess.
Chu Hengkong unsheathed his murderous blade and hurled it at the beast's corpse. Instantly, a fierce, murderous aura erupted, and the remaining blood from the corpse flowed toward the blade. Even the blood that had seeped into the soil tumbled out in beads. The long blade was like a ferocious beast, thirsting for blood and life just like Chongming.
In the blink of an eye, the beast's bones vanished, leaving only its shrunken, drained skin. The murderous knife lay quietly on the ground, its blade, now covered in ash, now sporting a hint of blood.
Chu Hengkong sheathed his sword, feeling much lighter this time. He tapped the hilt and whispered, "Do you want my blood?"
The murderous knife remained motionless. He thought that this knife might only want to take the enemy's life and would not bother to cut the flesh and blood of its own people.
"You are a proud sword."
After walking a hundred or two hundred meters, the rock they relied on for support gradually changed, from rough to sticky and warm, as if covered by an invisible mucous membrane. A faint tremor could be heard in the distance; the fighting outside seemed to be raging. Chu Hengkong suddenly blocked his body with his long sword.
The tremors suddenly intensified, as if something massive had crashed into the mountain. The narrow cave collapsed, rocks cascading down. Chu Hengkong dodged the falling rocks with minimal movement, striking with his sword and creating a path for himself. He seized the opportunity to cross the passage, but rocks fell behind him, blocking his way back.
The cave's topography had changed due to the landslide. Child-sized mushrooms and fluorescent grass had inexplicably sprouted among the rocks. Chu Hengkong suspected this was an illusion caused by devouring Black Moon's flesh and blood. He could hear labored breathing and the sounds of greedy chewing again.
Surrounded by fluorescent grass, a group of hideous dwarfs gathered, fighting over a human thigh. The dwarfs had no ears, orange hearts like tumors growing on their bodies, and wings on their backs that resembled tree bark.
A Level 4 Exotic Beast, the Strange Ghost, is a vicious species that feeds on humans. This creature typically raids the outer reaches of Dust Island, with few sightings within. The situation on the battlefield is grim.
Chu Hengkong naturally knew the information about these strange beasts. He was taller than the strange ghosts and immediately saw the bloody blond man in the fluorescent grass. The blond man also noticed him and was trying hard to lip-sync.
Walk. Chongming, go quickly.
The man's voice resurfaced in Chu Hengkong's mind: "Strange ghosts travel in groups and are extremely vindictive. Killing one is like provoking the whole group. When you're out there alone, avoid provoking them if you can..."
The murderous knife vibrated again, eager to strike. Chu Hengkong pulled the blade out an inch.
The weapons let out a fierce, long cry, like the roar of steel. The strange ghosts vying for man-eating froze simultaneously. The shrill sound of the swords destroyed their hearts, causing their bodies to explode from the inside!
"You guys are so generous." The blond man said weakly, "Really, this is the only thing I envy you for..."
The fluorescent grass was covered with dirty flesh and blood. Chu Hengkong placed the knife in the blood to "feed" it.
The besieged blond man, wearing silver plate armor, looked like a ladylike gentleman. However, his lower body was buried under rubble, and his only exposed leg had been eaten by the strange ghosts. He could only be described as a handsome man.
He used some strength to sweep the gravel away, sighing inwardly as he understood the other man's predicament. The blond man's other leg was also gone, leaving only his upper body, and he clearly had no strength left to fight.
"I told you to leave first." The blond man smiled bitterly.
He took out a small object with great effort and put it into Chu Hengkong's hand. The blond man had been holding the object tightly in his hand, and he never let go even when the strange ghosts were gnawing at him.
He forced a smile. "Live my share."
Of course, Chongming's comrades knew his physical condition. It was a miracle that he could survive. Trying to save others would only lead to their deaths. Chu Hengkong vaguely understood Chongming's bad temper. He had to make the most rational decisions to survive. He could eat the flesh and blood of outsiders to survive, and he had to sacrifice the lives of others to survive...
He took one last look at the small object the blond man had thrust into his hand. A glittering golden badge, its protrusion like a meteor piercing the curved arc, like a star rising from the depths of the abyss.
The shape of the badge is exactly the same as Ji Huaisu's pendant.
"Shut up, Du Lanbai," he heard Chongming say.
Control slipped away once more, and the thoughts buried deep within the sword replayed the same action. Chu Hengkong stared at Chongming in shock as he tore off his cloak and wrapped Du Lanbai, who was left with only the upper body, around him. He dragged Du Lanbai forward like he was carrying cargo.
He was going to go out like this! A man more fragile than a corpse dragging his dying comrades to the battlefield, this can't be called bravery, this is simply madness!
"Zhongming, you are really fucking crazy!" Du Lanbai shouted.
Chongming sneered: "You just realized I'm crazy?"
(End of this chapter)
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